PSX: bulls dominate, KSE-100 ends with over 600 points gain

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) showcased resilient, bullish trading on Wednesday, with the benchmark swinging both ways before settling with a gain of over 600 points.

The market opened on a positive note before experiencing a sharp dip to hit an intraday low of 164,060.34.

Market participants quickly stepped in around this support zone, triggering a steady mid-day recovery and accumulation phase that established a solid foundation for buyers.

As the afternoon session progressed, strong upward momentum took over, propelling the index past earlier levels to reach an intraday high of 165,629.35.

At close, the benchmark index settled at 165,417.51, up 641.07 points or 0.39.

On Tuesday, PSX closed lower as profit-taking at higher levels erased an early recovery. The market failed to find fresh triggers to recover Monday’s losses and reverse the broader downward trend witnessed during the previous week. The benchmark KSE-100 Index declined by 347.97 points, or 0.21%, to close at 164,776.44 points

Globally, Asian shares inched higher on Wednesday as those related to artificial intelligence found ​respite after a selloff, while any gain was tempered by elevated oil prices and caution ahead ‌of US inflation data later in the global day.

Among firms in the AI supply chain, chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose more than 2% in South Korea while Kioxia was steady in Japan, recovering some of the previous session’s loss.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific ​shares outside Japan was up 0.5% after US stocks ended the previous session with a mild ​loss.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.2%, and South Korea’s Kospi added 1.8%.

Sentiment remained cautious, however, with ⁠oil prices elevated as concern over energy supplies intensified following Houthi missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.

This is an intraday update